Stories from the English Teaching Industry in Taiwan: Uncovering Hidden (and Overt) Belief Systems & Ideologies of English Through Storytelling

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Title of Dissertation: STORIES FROM THE ENGLISH TEACHING INDUSTRY IN TAIWAN:UNCOVERING HIDDEN (AND OVERT) BELIEF SYSTEMS & IDEOLOGIES OF ENGLISH THROUGH STORYTELLING

Amanda J. Fiore, Dr. of International Education Policy, 2024

Dissertation directed by: Dr. Jing Lin, Department of International Education Policy

This dissertation is a critical exploration of power, privilege, and oppression in the private English teaching industry in Taiwan. It collected and examined the lived experiences of 9 Taiwanese students, 7 Taiwanese teachers, and 27 “foreign” teachers from around the world (43 total). All participants were living in Taiwan and teaching or studying English in the cross-cultural environment of Taiwan’s private English schools at the time of this study. The design was a multiple case study with a narrative lens. Case study was used to separate and bound the 43 participants into 5 Cases, which were formed according to participants’ role (as teacher/student) and their racial, national, and linguistic identities. Two types of qualitative analysis were applied: 1) thematic coding across all interviews, resulting in both in-Case and cross-Case analyses; and 2) emplotment, which was applied to 4 of the 43 participant’s interview data, turning their data into stories. Primary findings included the discovery and articulation of belief systems which associated English with power and prestige, as well as whiteness, Westernness, and “foreignness,” where “foreignness” was racialized in the Taiwanese context as not Asian. These belief systems created a structurally embedded hierarchy of racial, national, and linguistic identities within the English teaching industry in Taiwan, where white Westerners were the most privileged, followed by Western Teachers of Color (who are not Asian), then Western teachers with Asian racial identities, and finally non-Western foreign teachers. In all Cases, local Taiwanese teachers were the most marginalized and oppressed. Secondary findings included a set of personal characteristics held by all participants successfully able to connect with the “foreign other,” leading to the argument that personal orientation is more important than any other factor in creating cross-cultural understanding. Regarding research, this study argues that “emplotment” is an effective narrative tool for helping researchers with privileged identities navigate unequal power dynamics between themselves and their participants. This finding is corroborated by my own experience as a white Western researcher interpreting interview data from Participants of Color with a variety of national and linguistic identities.